A key term in Mahayana Buddhism and in Zen is Dukkha. The Dukkha relates to the meaning of existence according to the Buddha, which is essentially suffering. As we go about life we are getting attached to things; sensations, ideas, feelings, images, people, places, etc. More than anything else we become attached to the idea of the self, the idea of a central, solid and stable entity in the center of our experience. This idea even received a constant name but it is somewhat of an illusion. Everything is in a constant change, a flux of happenings. Inevitably, all of our attachments and even ourselves are bound to become paradoxes. We can also call these broken promises, disappointments, loss of faith or Dukkha. The practice of Zen is intended to release our grip from the familiar and experience reality as it is; ongoing and ever changing.
I believe that Zen is best understood through movement and and its artistic expression. Unlike art forms which leave an object, movement happens and disappears immediately. It can be recorded or photographed but the essence is can't be captured and the craft is not in front of the camera. Mastery of movement is both flowing with and dominating the very moment of happening.
Why should one work on something that will leave nothing once it's made? You could say that nothing will be left anyways so maybe it is a good metaphor for life. Even an act of preparation for dying. But reasoning can very quickly drift far and leave us again with attachment to a desired ending. Keep on moving without building towers of self importance or falling into nihilism. (A great reference on this question can be found in the small but meaningful book Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel).
In eastern tradition the relationship between Zen and movement is slippery. The core practice of Zen is actually meditation or Zazen. Zazen doesn't contain movement in the space but it's full of internal movement. However, there is no discrimination AGAINST other forms of practice. From Folkloric music to martial arts to flower arrangements. Many practices have traditionally walked hand in hand with Zen. Sometime the combination was more fitting and at others less. The keyword is intention. Intending to connect activity with Zen presence, or maybe actually the intention not to intend and allow the connection to happen by itself.
In the context of our era I've found zen and rolling to have a synergy showing an interesting expression of this idea. Rolling is usually purposeful in creating a skillset that will allow people to fall without hurting themselves. In Gymnastics the first years are served to master this capacity so it can transform into advanced acrobatics. In Grappling of all sorts, rolls are preparing the young fighter to being taken down and thrown around. In both cases it is somewhat of a preperatory skill though. After learning the fundamentals the rolling is being replaced by more specific or contextual movements.
I question what happens when we detach from the necessity to progress and keep refining the rolls as a movement language of its own. Rolls as a way to experience gravity and force, to learn how you can always play with the forces coming your way, you can always roll and flow with them. One interesting term I've found on the topic is Omote 表 and Ura裏. Derivan from Japanese cultural code, Omote relates to the public face of a person and Ura to their inner face or their private life. In traditional Japanese martial arts these two terms were symbols of different technical aspects of attacking and defending. Bring something from the outer to the inner means to diminish it. Bringing something from the inner world into the space and the public means to generate and grow it. These two aspects are both psychological as much as they deal with pure physics. Force grows and diminishes. No force is bad or good, as long as we know in which way it goes and don't stand in its way.
Rolls can either serve in diminishing big impact of energy like in parkour and Aikido. Or, they take inner desire towards the space and by rolling with it we generate force into larger feats of air like in Gymnastics and Acrobatics.
It will be silly to think that by practicing a movement we can dismantle Dukkha altogether. But returning to the beginning of this article, the way of Zen is never about dismantling something just as much as it is not about great achievements. Rolling with the forces of physics and gravity is a reminder and embodiment of flowing with the suffering of existing. Or as the Zen aphorism goes, 'to know with your bone marrow is much better than knowing with your mind'…
If you are interested in exploring rolls as fundamental skill our roll program (basic and advance) are a great place to begin.
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